TV faceoff over the value of a guitar owned by Les Paul.
They actually came near to a real dust-up

I was just watching a show on CNBC where people brought in all sorts of things to get evaluated as to whether or not it's real or fake plus an estimate of the monetary value.A guy came in with a 2002 Les Paul Custom that was purported to be owned by Les Paul.Anyway the outcome was that it was in fact one that Les owned and one that he appeared with on the cover of his biography.The appraiser went to several people who knew Les intimately and they all said that it was in fact given to Les by Gibson but it wasn't anything special about it such as being his main guitar etc.When the appraiser went back to him he told him that even though the guitar was owned by Les there was nothing unique about it that would make it worth any more than the $7,000 that he paid for it.The guy actually went looney and I really thought that he was going to punch the appraiser out.He called him a pompous **** Englishman plus a lot of other dandy multi-syllable expletives and added to his rant that he was an expert as he did this sort of thing every day and the appraiser didn't know what he was talking about according to him.This made me wonder that if this guy was such an expert why was he bringing the guitar in for an appraisal.

Anyway the "expert" stormed out threatening legal action because they besmirched his excellent reputation of being a respected authority who was held in high regard. The guy was a super tool and obviously his own biggest fan.

I didn't catch the name of the show because I tuned in midway through.

I watched that one too. The "expert" owner was about to threaten homicide. Like you, I stumbled on it in mid play and did not burn the show's name. He was jacked! The English guy will be applying for a c/c permit before the next episode!!

I think, there is a LOT of wierd stuff involving "collecter" guitars with name association. A lot of fraud, too.

I can't forget all that stuff involving the "Mary Ford SG/LP. That was proven to be not the guitar it was sold as, and it STILL got sold, and re-listed for even more. What I take from that is, it isn't about authenticity, it's about wanting to create a market, create it's own interest, and "invent" collectables.

What it's REALLY worth is what someone is willing to pay for it. But a price that's "willing" because you are doing it to re-sell is not really what it's worth.

I guess the comprimise "expert" assesment might be something like, "it's possible it could sell for x amount because some are paying that for this stuff, but that's not based on anything and can't be counted on".

That's the guy Rocketman,it's just so laughably obvious that the guitar owner is a clueless flake because as I previously posted if the guy was the expert that he tried to pass himself off to behe wouldn't have needed anyone elses opinion or consultation.Some mothers do have'em.I'd love to see if he really does take them to court for the damage done to his reputation and to his high standing in his profession.Thanks for posting.

That was funny... I thought the guy who told him what the guitar was really worth handle himself very well... The other thing is why was the guitar refreted? I don't think Les Paul played with such a heavy hand and even if he did he had enough other guitars to play that a fairly new Les Paul Custom wouldn't need a refret. Weird...

That's the guy Rocketman,it's just so laughably obvious that the guitar owner is a clueless flake because as I previously posted if the guy was the expert that he tried to pass himself off to behe wouldn't have needed anyone elses opinion or consultation.Some mothers do have'em.I'd love to see if he really does take them to court for the damage done to his reputation and to his high standing in his profession.Thanks for posting.

Great point! I get this all the time in my field and I just try to be nice. But once in a while I'll get pushed beyond my limits and then really give it back to someone (it's only happened a few times in my career). The other guy did a great job staying calm.

Everything about this guy is vile, his body language, his manner, his attitude and his smugness what a total and utter *** wipe .How he didn,t get that guitar wrapped around his head I will never know. The appraiser handled it very well.Some people just don,t like the truth. Total PRICK.